Cracks, Fissures, Drowning
by Kaishei
Summary: Continuation of A Crack In The Ice, 14 x 49.
1. Chapter 1

She lies on the floor, gazing up into the darkness as if it holds the answer to all her problems. A dry chuckle fills the room, followed by a raspy voice, "you don't need to answer all my problems, just one will do."

She lazily drags her arm up and brings a bottle to her lips. Bringing it back down again, the vodka splashes against the side of the bottle. She thinks it's vodka anyway, she's not sure anymore. She's not sure of anything anymore.

"Thought not."

She turns her head, cheek now lying against the floor. Her gaze falls to an open door on the opposite side of the room. A slight glow reaches just past the doorway, the moonlight shining through the bedroom window. A bag sits against the wall, hidden in the darkness, it's not hers though.

She knows she should go back to sleep. She knows she has work in...

The unoccupied hand reaches out into the darkness, it fumbles for a few moments before it finds its target. Bringing the object closer to her face, she presses a key, the phone lighting up the surrounding area.

The light causes her to squint and tilt the screen away from her face. It takes a minute before her eyes adjust and she's able to read the time. 3:48 AM.

She has work in less than 4 hours.

* * *

"Did you even get any sleep last night?"

Max's voice snaps her back to reality. "What?!" Eddi croaks, twisting her head to greet him. He gave her a look that she couldn't quite decipher under her current state of mind.

Max moved to lean against the desk, turning the chair Eddi was collapsed in, to face him.

"I woke up and you weren't there."

Eddi looks up at him and Max studies her face.

"Yeah I, uh, I just... I don't know. I..." Eddi falls silent and Max doesn't prompt her.

Max can feel someone watching them, and turning his head slightly, he recognizes the figure in the corner of his eye. Luc Hemingway. Next to him, Sacha stands, gaze equally probing. Turning his head back to Eddi he knows she hasn't noticed.

"Let's go somewhere quiet to talk" he mutters, placing a hand around her forearm and motioning for her to stand. Eddi frowns at him and it takes a moment before he realizes why. "Oh... yeah, I meant like... not here."

A glance around the room shows a quiet ward. Much unlike yesterday.

Eddi silently accepts his proposal, and Max begins to lead her away. They pass Michael, who tries and fails to look disinterested in them. He can still feel their eyes on them. He can still feel those eyes on him. He turns his head, and meets Luc's glare, returning it with one of his own. They turn the corner, finally away from their stares. _So why do I feel so on edge._

* * *

"Did you have a convention of homeless people admitted?"

Sacha turns, surprised, as Chrissie's voice breaks the silence. Luc continues to stare across the room. "I'm sorry, what?" Sacha asks her, confused. She gives him a look, and waits a moment before answering, "what reeks of booze?" Her question goes unanswered as Michael walks up to them, and Luc finally turns back to his companions, his face apprehensive.

"Luc, I heard you were back, here to stay I hope!" Michael states, pulling Luc into a hug. The hopefulness in his voice makes Luc think that there was a lot more going on than Eddi's apparent depression. A small silence follows.

"Right" Chrissie says, "I just wanted to remind you that I'm taking Daniel to my father's tonight, I'll see you later."

Chrissie departs and Luc hesitantly asks the question he's dreading an answer to; "there's something else isn't there?"

* * *

Eddi and Max sit on a bench in the locker room.

She sits, legs crossed, facing the lockers. He sits straddling the bench, facing towards her. "Here" he says softly, taking her hand. She opens her eyes and looks to him, before looking at her hand.

"No Max. This is a terrible idea. God!" she exclaims, her hand clenching around the sleeve of pills. She clenches her jaw, "where did you even get these?!" "Like I told you, they're prescription!" he says, voice retaining its soft tone.

"Look, you don't have to believe me about where I got them, but believe me when I say they'll make you feel better. Now I'm going to go back to the ward, I don't want them back, do what you will with them. It's your choice."

She watches as he leaves the room, and it's like she suddenly feels trapped. She can feel her heart begin to beat faster, her mind start racing. She doesn't know what to do. Unclenching her hand she fiddles with the sleeve, then slowly pops two out. Eddi hesitates, but finally throws them into her mouth and swallows them. Again._ How did I get here?_

* * *

Max takes a deep breath, slouched against the door. _Please don't turn out to be stupid decision._

* * *

_**Let me know what you think, should I continue it or not? This is supposed to be a continuation of A Crack In The Ice (season 14 - episode 49), and so will only be canon up until that episode. Any following episodes are irrelevant to this.**_


	2. Chapter 2

**So tell me, are they out of character? Where do you want this to go? Where do you think this is going to go? Also, love to my reviewers!**

* * *

Luc sits in the office, his foot nudging the chair side to side ever so slightly. He thinks about what Sacha and Michael have just told him. Ritchie Mooney's death. The missing Comoxidan. Max's strange behaviour. _**Eddi**_. He lets out a heavy sigh, _what the hell is going on here?!_

Luc sinks further and further into his mind, fingers unknowingly fiddling with a pen on the desk.

_It seems like I leave and it all turns to hell._ He scoffs at his own ridiculous thought._ It wasn't me holding AAU together, it was her. I left, and I broke her, and the ward went south._ He closes his eyes and brings his hands up to his face to rub at his tired eyes. _What I wouldn't give for a patient right about now._

He watches through the window as Eddi finally reappears on the ward. Max had returned 15 minutes ago, and to say Luc was anxious would be an understatement. It was even beginning to show in his twitchy movements, and holding a blank face became harder with each passing moment, it was why he had hid himself away in the office in the first place. He allowed a sigh of relief to escape him as he watched her check on patients, seemingly unharmed.

_No ordinary nurse _he muses, a small smile twitching at the corner of his lips.

His eyes followed her as she did her rounds, checking on the patients, updating notes. Much to Luc's surprise, his head became quiet, calm, and for once he found himself unable to fall back into the depths of his mind for comfort.

* * *

As the day wore on, Eddi had to admit, she _did_ feel better. For a short while everything seemed simple. For a short while she didn't need to worry, or _feel_ anything; she could just work. It wasn't until a few hours into her shift that she began to feel _different._

* * *

Max had spent several hours doing his best to avoid Eddi wherever possible, he had even staved off taking some Comoxidan for himself. He knew it would help with the constant anxiousness that had plagued him since leaving the locker room, but he knew that it could be his downfall if Eddi had actually reported him.

He spent the time smoking instead. He would have spent the entire shift outside, but he had only one pack and no money, and so had to return to the ward eventually.

* * *

Michael strolled onto the ward and paused to take a look around. Sacha was with a patient, Eddi sat at the nurses' station, Max was absent, _no surprises there, _and Luc was... _where is Hemingway?_

Making his way over to Eddi with a slight skip in his step, he stopped and leant on the desk with his arms open. He stood there for a minute before Eddi spoke, not even looking up from her crossword book, "Can I help you Mr. Spence?" She spoke formally, but he could still detect the sarcasm in her bored tone.

"Well Eddi..." he began. When he received no response from her, he continued. "Where is Mr. Schneider?" "On a break." "Oh come on, is he ever not on a break?!" Michael replied, frustration leaking into his voice. "Probably when he's working" Eddi spoke, sarcasm clear in her voice this time. Michael could feel himself getting riled up until he realized something. _If Luc is here, then Max doesn't have to be, and we can finally get rid of that parasite._ He turned his eyes back to Eddi, _hopefully before he's done too much damage._

"And where is Luc?"

This time she did pause, and glanced upwards for a moment, before turning back to her book and writing in it. Michaels eyebrow twitched, and he opened his mouth to ask again when she looked up to him, pointed her pen towards the office, and spoke with amusement in her voice and on her face, "Mister Hemingway is hiding in the office."

He frowned slightly, and quickly turned his head towards the office. "Hiding? From what?" "Me I would assume, but then again, what do I know about the guy." Michaels eyes flickered between Eddi and Luc, trying to understand a situation he didn't have the details for. "Right" he finally replied, retreating into the office to join Luc.

* * *

"I'm sorry, what?" Luc asks, finally turning his head towards Michael. Michael stares blankly back at him for a beat before sighing and dropping his head into his hands. "Were you even listening to me?" he asks, raising his head. Luc shrugs his shoulders slightly, "I, uh, well, I was..." "too busy pining after Eddi, yeah, I got that" "I wasn't... I'm not _pining!_" Luc defends himself, trying hard to keep his focus on Michael, but he falters when Max reappears on the ward.

They fall into silence for a moment. "Who are you Luc, what happened to you? This is not the man I remember." Luc looks away, his eyes unconsciously falling onto Eddi once again. Michael notices, and they watch the interaction play out through the glass. They watch as Eddi and Max talk, Max's body language turning from tense to relaxed quickly. He whispers in her ear and they both quickly make their way off the ward. "Not again..." Michael huffs under his breath. _He has __**got**__ to go._

Flicking his eyes back to Luc, who is now looking to the floor, he repeats himself. "He doesn't have to be here" he pauses, checking that Luc is listening. When they make eye contact, he continues, "Max. If I were you I would tell him to get lost."

Luc sits forward, rubbing his hands together. "I can't just tell him to go Michael, she'll think... she's happy with him."

Michael scoffs, "he's _**bad**_ for her!" "You don't know that; you have no proof of that. What if she loves him, what if he loves her, would you want to ruin their chance at happiness?" Michael stares back at him disbelievingly. "Wow Luc, wow. I never took you to be a coward, or a quitter really, but I guess I was wrong." Michael stands, "Find proof. And while you're at it, head on over to Hanssen's and let him know we are overstaffed; I'm sure he and his house elf would like to know, they're always looking for ways to save money." He walks out the door, but quickly reappears, "oh, and by the way, grow up Luc."

He finally leaves and Luc finds himself uncertain of what he should do. He runs a hand over his head, _grow up. Maybe I'm not ready for that type of responsibility. But I'm here aren't I? I came back. What if me doing nothing hurts her?_

_She may hate me, but at least she'll be safe._

* * *

"So..." Max whispers into Eddi's ear; he has her against the wall of the on-call room.

Max pulls a blister-pack out of his back pocket and looks towards her, the question in his eyes. She looks unsure, gazing between the pack in his hand and his face. "It'll be fine" Max reassures her, "what's the worst that can happen. You feel good for a couple of hours and then that's it. I promise."

Max takes her silence as a yes, popping out two and gently placing them in her mouth, before popping out two for himself. He runs a hand through her hair and they return to their previous activities. Max smiles against her mouth as he realizes he's in the clear. _Perfect. I've got her right where I want her._

* * *

Luc creeps into the locker room, glad to see it empty, and locks the door behind him. He quickly heads towards Max's locker, searching the contents, but comes up empty. _They're wrong..._ _so why does that make me so sad._

Luc rubs his forehead, and goes to leave, when a thought strikes him. _What if... he wouldn't... would he?_

Heading back towards the lockers, he quickly finds Eddi's and hesitantly opens it. Sure enough, there at the bottom of the locker is an unfamiliar bag. One that he _knows_ doesn't belong to Eddi. Searching through the bag he quickly finds what he is looking for, the missing Comoxidan, along with various other prescription medication. _He's an addict. And I was going to do nothing. How could I be so..._

Staring into the locker, Luc realizes that he has to know for sure, and reaches for Eddi's bag as well.

_Oh Eddi..._


	3. Chapter 3

**So, here's hoping I haven't let you all down, that they're still in character and it's all still believable. This may or may not be the last we've seen of Max. *cue sinister music***

* * *

"I see he's still here."

Luc turns to Michael, "yes, he does appear to be doesn't he." Michael moves to stand in front of him, "why?"

Luc crosses his arms and gives Michael an innocent look, feigning ignorance. "Really Luc, really. You really want to do this." Michael asks exasperated. "Let's just say I have my reasons and I'm working my options" he finally replies. Michael just shakes his head and walks off, grabbing files from the desk on his way; he doesn't fail to send Max a dirty look as he passes him.

"What's his problem?" Max smirks to Eddi, swinging around on a chair. "Who knows" Eddi replies, smirk also in place. She turns slightly and catches a reflection in the computer screen, losing her smile completely. She watches Luc watching her, through the reflection on the screen, his expression contemplative. _I don't care. I don't care. I don't care... I don't... I..._

She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, fingers unconsciously clenching the new addition to her pocket. She opens her eyes and turns back to Max, _I don't care._

* * *

"Look, Luc, I don't mean to sound like Michael, but... well, come on! You've been back a week now, and quite frankly I need to know what's going on in that head of yours."

Luc's eyes flit around the ward before landing back on Sacha. "Ok..."

"Ok?" Sacha repeats, "ok what?"

Luc tilts his head towards the office, and Sacha follows his lead.

"Well then..." Sacha states, attempting to prompt Luc to start explaining himself. The silence simply continues as Luc paces the room. "Luc, please, I'm your friend, ok. You can trust me. I just want what is best for the ward. And for you... and for Eddi." Luc stops pacing and takes a deep breath, turning to face Sacha.

"You have to promise me that what's said in this room goes no further. No one can find out."

"Luc... you know that I can't-" "Sacha please!" "...ok. Ok, fine."

Luc takes a moment to clear his head.

"Max took the drugs. I found them in his bag."

Sacha looks at him with a shocked expression, "well that's great news... isn't it? Wait, you went through his bag?!" Luc pulls his lip into his mouth, his anxiousness causing him to chew. "Ok, what aren't you telling me" Sacha asks, picking up on Luc's distress.

"I think... I think he's been..." _I can't tell him, I can't take that risk._ "He keeps his bag in her locker. I'm worried Eddi could be implicated." _I think Eddi's also taking the Comoxidan. I've left a vulnerable woman in the hands of an unpredictable drug addict. I made a mistake. I'm scared for her. I..._ So many thoughts run through his head, but he can't bring himself to voice them. That would make them _real._

Sacha sighs, bringing a hand to his face. "What do we do?" he asks. Luc stares back at him. He licks his lips and clears his throat, but his voice still cracks, "I don't know."

* * *

"We have to bring Michael in on this."

Sacha and Luc have now moved and are sitting on the office sofa with their heads together discussing their options.

"No way Sacha, you know he will go straight to Hanssen, and then what?! What if he blames Eddi? I will not let her take the fall for this. You said it yourself, she's already under pressure from the Mooney case, this could end her career."

They both fall silent as the door opens. _Speak of the devil_ Sacha thinks.

"Alright guys, play-date is it?" Max says cockily, as he fishes around on the desk for a pen. They stay silent as he fills in some forms. "Don't stop on my account" he says, clicking the pen. He sends them a broad smile and leaves the room once more.

"I'll deal with it." Luc tells Sacha, leaving the room after Max.

* * *

"Mr. Schneider!" Luc calls out, jogging up to the other doctor. Max turns curiously, "Max, please" he says with a smile. "Max" Luc repeats, flashing him a quick smile of his own, equally as fake as Max's.

"What can I do for you Mr. Hemingway?" Max asks, overly-enthusiastic. Luc claps his hands together, and decides to just be straight about it. "You need to leave."

"Excuse me?" Max asks, cocking an eyebrow, giving Luc a hard stare. Luc returns his expression, speaking in an emotionless voice. "Since I have returned, AAU no longer has any use for you. You are surplus to requirement. Feel free to move to another ward... or another hospital. In fact, feel free to leave Holby." Luc crosses his arms as he speaks, his tone becoming lighter.

When Max doesn't reply, Luc continues on. "I know you've been stealing drugs from the ward, so I'm giving you a choice; either you leave willingly, or I report you."

Max turns fully to face him, and gives a nervous laugh, "good one mate!" Luc frowns at him, "I am _not_ your mate, and I am not joking. You're going to make a decision right now, and either way, you will be gone by the end of the day."

Max's expression turns stony, "I didn't think jealousy was your style Mr. Hemingway." Luc ignores him, "your decision please Mr. Schneider."

Max sneers at him, "do you really think that me leaving means I'll stay away from Eddi? Oh friend, get over it, she's _mine _now." "Eddi doesn't _belong_ to anybody!" Luc states, becoming tense. Max laughs at him. "Yet you seem to think she belongs to you!"

Luc repeats himself; "your decision please Mr. Schneider."

Max just continues to get angry with him. "Why don't you just run along Hemingway. It shouldn't be too hard, you seem pretty practiced at it. I'll be there to pick up the pieces again, you won't have to worry, I'll_ look after her._"

Luc finds his hands clenching into fists as Max taunts him. _Don't get angry. Don't let him win. He who angers you controls you._

"And at night she won't even remember your name because it'll be mine she's-"

_Oh sod it_. Before he has a chance to stop himself, Luc finds himself grabbing Max and delivering a hard blow to his face.

Max had been caught unaware, but quickly delivered a punch of his own. They were caught in the scuffle for several minutes before Hanssen's voice quickly sobered them.

"Stop it now, the both of you."

* * *

A security guard held back Max, who still struggled slightly in his arms. Luc lifted himself from the floor. "Mr. Hanssen." Luc recognizes respectfully. Beside Hanssen, stands Michael and Sacha, both caught between looking surprised and curious.

"Mr. Schneider" Henrik starts, turning towards the other man, "I must ask you to please leave my hospital, this is unacceptable behaviour."

"You what?!" Max shouts, struggling once again in the guards arms. "Please make sure he leaves" Hanssen asks the guard, giving him a nod.

"Mr. Hemingway" he says, now turning to Luc. "Are you alright?" Luc startles slightly, "Uh, yes sir. I'm fine." "Good. Nurse McKee, could you please deal with Mr. Hemingway's face." Luc turns in time to see Eddi nod. _How long had she been there?_ "As you were."

* * *

Luc sits on the edge of a bed in the side room as Eddi cleans his face. He has a gash on the side of his head, not that he remembers how exactly or when he got it, and a split lip. She works in silence, saying as little as possible to him, as she had been doing since he returned.

"Alright, I'm done" she states. "Woah, no, sit!" she commands him when he goes to stand. _I thought she said I was done?_

"What did you say to him?" she asks, crossing her arms. Luc frowns, "what makes you think it was something I said to him." Eddi raises her eyebrows, "oh, right, yeah, I forgot that he goes around starting fistfights for no reason."

_She thinks he started the fight... do they all think that?_

She opens her mouth to speak again, but is interrupted when her phone beeps. She quickly checks it, and leaves the room, mumbling a quick "never mind" to him.

Eddi's presence is quickly replaced by Michael and Sacha, who had been lingering, waiting for a chance to strike.

"I have to hand it to you Hemingway, you really surprised me. When I said get rid of him, I didn't imagine you would start a fight with the guy." Michael says, leaning on the bed next to him.

"Well it wasn't intentional!" Luc defends.

Sacha shakes his head, "what the hell happened Luc?"

* * *

Eddi sits in the locker room, crouched in front of her locker, Max's bag at her ankles. Her phone beeps again.

_Can you believe this!_

_Eddi I need you to get my bag. They won't let me back in the hospital._

_Eddi?_

_Oh come on Eddi. Don't do this._

The various texts were building up.

_This is just their way of getting rid of me! They just want to keep us apart!_

She sighs as yet another text comes through. She finally sends one back to him;_ I'll give your bag to security. They can give it to you._

_What? No! Why can't you give it to me._

_Eddi!_

_Eddi?_

_Come on Eddi. Don't be like this. Luc's just jealous. Don't let what happened ruin what we have._

She pockets her phone and looks to the boxes in her hand. Comoxidan. She falls backwards onto the floor. _I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I know I should report him, but if he's going anyway, what does it matter? _

Before she realizes what she's doing, she's pulled her own blister pack from her pocket and removed one from the sleeve. She catches herself just before she opens her mouth. _What am I doing? ...It's just one... Just one to help me think. It's just one. What's the worst that can happen? _She swallows another pill; an activity that once seemed inconceivable to her, but now a regular occurrence. _It's just one little pill to help me feel good. It'll help me think, and it'll wear off in a few hours, and I'll be fine._

As Eddi rationalizes her actions in her head, she stuffs the boxes of Comoxidan into her own bag. Checking through the rest of Max's belongings, she pauses at the sight of the other drugs._ I'm not an addict. I am not an addict. I don't need them... _Eddi quickly closes Max's bag, attempting to remove the temptation. Standing up, she shoulders both her own bag, and Max's, and makes her way towards security.

As she walks, she finds herself clenching at her pocket. _I'm not an addict._


	4. Chapter 4

**I have to be honest, I feel like it would have been perfect if I had left it at the 3 chapters. But of course then there would have been no resolution, and I kinda want a long term Holby fic. So, this totally isn't up to my usual standard in my opinion, you'll have to let me know what you think, but I really am stuck on how to play this out. Holby got it spot on, so it's hard for me to do this without going down the same road.**

* * *

As the days passed, whether or not the situation on AAU improved became a matter of opinion. From a statistical point of view, from a George Binns point of view, there was an improvement. From an _Eddi_ point of view, not so much. Without Max around, she wasn't shirking responsibility, quite the opposite. She became a little more lively, and she did a lot more work; maxing out overtime, once again. But to the people she'd worked with for so long now, it was hell, and no-one could see that but them.

She was polite, respectful, did as she was told. She arrived early for her shifts, and left late. She picked up the slack of the more junior nurses, and she didn't complain. And that was **_not_** Eddi McKee.

Eddi McKee was feisty. She was happy to complain, she threw out snide remarks, and she didn't let poor work ethic slide.

She was still drinking though, and it was obvious. The bags under her eyes, pale complexion. She looked sick, and everybody knew it. It wasn't until Michael walked into the locker room and saw her fiddling with a packet of cigarettes that he realized that she wasn't going to snap out of it.

* * *

**_Flashback_**

_"Family meeting." Michael murmured, pushing Luc towards the office, and grabbing Sacha by the arm as he passed him._

_"What's this about?" Luc questioned as Michael drew down the blinds._

_"Eddi" he said, peering out through the blinds to check the ward._

_"Anything in particular?" Sacha asked, perching himself on the desk._

_"Does she smoke?" Michael queried, directing his question at Luc._

_Luc's eyebrows raised, "uh, no- no."_

_"Really, well she's about to pick up a dirty habit then."_

_"What?!" Sacha exclaimed, "what do you mean?"_

_Michael crossed his arms, "I just caught her in the locker room with a pack of ciggies. We have got to do something."_

_Sacha sighs, "what can we do that we haven't already tried Michael? We've tried talking to her, we've all tried talking to her. Do you think we need to take this higher up, Hanssen maybe?"_

_"No!" both Luc and Michael said at once. Michael looked to Luc for a moment before turning back to Sacha, "it's too late for that. If we get Hanssen in on this, then she's just going to lose her job and then we can't do anything for her. At least if she's here we can watch her, for half the day anyway."_

_Michael and Sacha hear the door close, and turning towards it they realize Luc had left._

_"Where the hell did Hemingway go?" Michael says exasperated, "he know something we don't?" he says to Sacha, who just shrugs back at him. "Maybe he went home, his shift is over you know." "Home? He lives in the car park!"_

* * *

Luc silently stalked down the road, keeping in the shadows as not to be seen. Ahead of him, Eddi stumbled through the darkness, bottle in hand. He had been following her drunken escapades for several days now, after she had turned up to work with several cuts and bruises she couldn't remember getting. She didn't always make it home. He hadn't told Sacha and Michael what he was doing, but they had complied with his request to have his shifts mirror hers.

She made it most of the way home this time.

Eddi always went through the park to get home, and had sat down on a bench to finish her bottle, but passed out instead. He warily walked up to her crashed out figure, keeping an eye out for any other signs of life; being caught picking up a sleeping girl wasn't exactly a situation he wanted to explain his way out of.

It was hard on him, watching her slow descent into darkness, knowing he couldn't help her. She wouldn't admit she had a problem. Without that vital insight, he knew he had no chance of helping her, he would have no chance to fix her. So he did the only thing he could, he walked behind her and made sure he hid the evidence. He made sure she made it home, he covered up any proof of missing drugs; he started building her trust again.

* * *

"Cathexis."

Luc turned, shocked by the sudden appearance of Sacha beside him. "Come again?"

"Cathexis" Sacha repeated, "the process of putting all your mental or emotional energy into one thing."

Luc frowned as a sense of déjà vu washed over him. "I'm well aware of that, do you have a point."

"Well, Eddi appears to be throwing herself into her work. And you appear to be throwing yourself in- at, er, on... well, focussing on Eddi, to prevent falling apart."

"Have we had this conversation before?" Luc asks him, curiously scanning his head for the familiar words.

Sacha smiles at him, "it may not be Christmas yet, and you may be no Sacha-Claus, but I think you could do it if you tried."

Luc nods, finally remembering their conversation regarding Chrissie last Christmas. "It's not that easy Sacha."

"Well, why not, it worked for me didn't it!" Sacha exclaimed.

"Er, I'm not sure this is quite the same situation."

"Luc..." he says in a much more serious tone, "just try. Look at her. If this were Chrissie, it would be killing me. You never know until you try."

"But what if I make the wrong choice... this could be my last chance..." Luc whispers. Sacha gives him a pat on the shoulder, "you better make it count then."

* * *

Eddi sits on the roof railing, legs just about reaching the edge, and arms twisted around the metal. She sits, eyes closed, taking in the brisk night air. She's just finished a shift, another only 4 hours away; she doesn't even bother going home. She dozes in and out of consciousness for a while, the noises of the hospital car park snapping her back to reality every now and then.

A single intrusive thought crawls into her head, destroying the numb atmosphere that had seeped into her mind as of recent. _What if I jumped?_

Her eyes slowly open and survey the dark scene below as she ponders her own question. _What if I did? It'd be over, I wouldn't hurt anymore..._ She finds herself slipping forward slightly, sitting on the floor of the roof - the wrong side of the metal barrier. Her arms slip down and re-twist themselves around the lower bar, her legs leaning over the edge of the roof.

_It's not like anyone would care..._


End file.
